Darwinian Fundamentalism

"A self-styled form of Darwinian fundamentalism has risen to some prominence in a variety of fields, from the English biological heartland of John Maynard Smith to the uncompromising ideology (albeit in graceful prose) of his compatriot Richard Dawkins, to the equally narrow and more ponderous writing of the American philosopher Daniel Dennett . . . . - Stephen Jay Gould, "Darwinian Fundamentalism," The New York Review of Books.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Richard Dawkins Stereotypes Ben Stein as "Creationist Front"

If he had known the film’s premise, Dr. [Richard] Dawkins said in an e-mail message, he would never have appeared in it. “At no time was I given the slightest clue that these people were a creationist front,” he said.

And this:

Mr. Stein, a prolific author who has acted in movies like “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and appeared on television programs including “Win Ben Stein’s Money” on Comedy Central, said in a telephone interview that he accepted the producers’ invitation to participate in the film not because he disavows the theory of evolution — he said there was a “very high likelihood” that Darwin was on to something — but because he does not accept that evolution alone can explain life on earth.

That does not sound like he is a creationist to me. If I were Ben Stein, I would be pretty annoyed at Richard Dawkins' false characterization of him as a "creationist front." Dawkins is the one with an issue of honesty, or at least accuracy.

So here is the apparent angle of the story: Dawkins and Eugenie Scott are upset because the movie people did not tell them they were "creationists" or a "creationist front," but if they had told them that, they would have been lying. To put it another way: Dawkins and Scott apparently felt misled, not because they were misled, but because their own ignorant stereotypes led them to an incorrect understanding about the makers of the film.

We should all pitch in and support remedial education for Dawkins and Scott, and perhaps some multicultural sensitivity training.

For some other posts on the problem of stereotyping in the scientific community, read here and here or here.

Update: Links to most of my posts relating to Ben Stein and this film can be found here.

Dawkins claims he was misled, but the article is very short on the facts of what he was actually told and what release he signed. From reports elsewhere, there did not seem to be any deception at all. The interviewers apparently did not tell Dawkins the exact angle of the film, but what documentary filmmaker does?

About Me

I am a macroevolution agnostic. I used to accept evolutionary theory. Then I looked at the evidence.
It became clear to me that macroevolutionary theory is built more on a priori philosophical assumptions than on evidence. Microevolution, on the other hand, is supported by the evidence. The distinction between the two is critical and is largely ignored, or not understood, by the mainstream media and general public.